Mauricio Pochettino says another Chelsea star could not train at Cobham after international break

Mauricio Pochettino cast doubt over the availability of defender Ben Chilwell for this weekend's game by saying he did not know if the England defender could play because he returned from international duty with a knock.

Chilwell who is the stand-in captain of the club in the absence of injured Reece James has had his fair share of injuries- managing only 12 league games so far this campaign. But he played 67 minutes for England against Brazil and lasted 90 minutes against Belgium. Something that surprised his manager.

Asked what the state of his squad was going into the weekend, Pochettino said the 26-year-old returned with a knock and hasn't trained.

He told LondonWorld: "Surprised, not surprised, I don't know. If he cannot play with us or be available, because he didn't play after Brentford with us. He played a few minutes against Leicester. 

"He started two games. Yeah, maybe, it's a surprise for us. But it's bad luck because he got a dead leg in the last moment of the game against Belgium." 

This has been an incredibly tough campaign for manager Pochettino who has had at least nine players missing for large parts of the season due to injuries and on some rare occasions, suspension. 

Trevoh Chalobah and Robert Sanchez who were both present before the international break have now also been ruled out of the game this weekend due to the latest injuries. 

Enzo Fernandez is still yet to return from international duty after playing for Argentina on Wednesday morning UK time. They are short in midfield and will need their Argentine maestro.